No changes coming for Chattanooga State

Fannie Hewlett
Fannie Hewlett

Don't expect any monumental changes at Chattanooga State Community College -- at least not for a few months.

Interim college President Fannie Hewlett says her role isn't one of a change agent. Rather, she's hoping to subtly lay a foundation for the college's permanent president, who should take over sometime in the summer.

Hewlett, a longtime Chattanooga State professor and administrator who retired in June 2014, took the reins following the departure of Jim Catanzaro, who led the college for a quarter-century. He left amid an outcry over his hiring practices, specifically the hiring of Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes. Catanzaro recruited her from Barbados for a top campus position, though she didn't have a required bachelor's degree.

In a special audit, the Tennessee Board of Regents, which oversees the state's community colleges, found that Catanzaro created a mock hiring process in defiance of rules designed to ensure fair, open hiring. Haynes was later fired and Human Resources Director Tom Krum stepped down.

While the scandal opened the floodgates for dozens of faculty complaints over Catanzaro's leadership, Hewlett said she doesn't plan on taking on any big projects or pursuing any big organizational changes.

"My term here is going to be very short," she said. "I think it would be very unfair of me to make huge organizational changes that a new president has to come live with."

That may not be what faculty members, who twice approved votes of no confidence during the final months of Catanzaro's tenure, want to hear.

Faculty Senate President Kenneth Goldsmith said faculty members have lengthy to-do lists and were hoping for an aggressive interim leader who would tackle the many issues on campus.

"We just have this gap now where we're not moving forward. We're just on hold," he said. "And I think that's the biggest problem the faculty sees now -- we don't see any action out of the president's office."

Goldsmith said several Chatt State employees were complicit in some of Catanzaro's deeds. Faculty members expected to see more heads roll, which would have sent a strong message that the TBR was serious about rebuilding the campus culture.

"There are things that could have been done that would have sent a message to the faculty and the larger community that their cleanup was serious and it didn't just stop with the president," he said. "And they've missed that opportunity."

Some faculty members may also be surprised by Hewlett's position on the three-person search committee that brought Haynes to campus in 2011.

"The people who were on that committee didn't stand up," Goldsmith said. "They should have questioned her credentials."

For her part, Hewlett said she can't remember if the committee recommended Haynes -- though Catanzaro previously told the Times Free Press she was the committee's top choice. TBR Vice Chancellor Warren Nichols said Catanzaro had the final say and that members of search committees couldn't be held accountable for hires.

"Guilt by association is really not fair," he said. "You still serve at the pleasure of the president and you ultimately do what the president wants you to do."

Hewlett is doing exactly what she was hired to do, Nichols said, as the TBR doesn't hire interim presidents to make big strategic decisions. Rather, they're in place to keep the college moving forward.

"I needed someone who could hit the ground running, who didn't owe Dr. Catanzaro any past loyalties, but that could look forward and say here's where we are and here's what we're working on. I'm very pleased with what she's done and what she's brought to the table in the short time she's been there."

Hewlett, who will not be competing for the permanent president post, is earning $15,803.58 per month -- about $80,000 over her expected five months on the job.

While she won't make big changes, she said some smaller changes are in order.

Hewlett says she's trying to refocus the college's attention to academics, not the big international partnerships and programs that highlighted Catanzaro's leadership.

She's already reassigned one position back to the library that was taken away for Haynes' department. She said other employees may be reassigned or removed when many contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year. And in the upcoming budget cycle, she hopes to begin improving the pay of adjunct faculty members, who haven't seen a raise in about 20 years.

Hewlett says she is listening to faculty, students and community members to create talking points and recommendations for the next president. And she says Catanzaro -- long a larger-than-life presence on campus and in the community -- has no influence on or communication with the current administration.

"I have not even talked to him since I've retired," she said.

Contact staff writer Kevin Hardy at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-62249.

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